No, Illinois has never won the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985.
There were 53 teams in the 1984 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship (5 play-in games before the tournament).
The first national basketball tournament was the National Invitational Tournament, the NIT. It preceded the start of the NCAA tourney. The first year of the NCAA Basketball Tournament was 1939.
1985
In 2000 there were 64 teams that played in the Division I basketball tournament.
Teams that are on the verge of being in or out of the NCAA tournament.
The 2012 NCAA men's basketball tournament included teams from 31 states and the District of Columbia.
The original NCAA Division 1 College Basketball Tournament 1939 field consisted of 8 teams.
64
UCLA with 11.
4